Blowing a three-goal lead in the third period doesn't usually equate to success in the playoffs, but a deft pass by Valtteri Filppula to Gustav Nyquist got the Wings a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 2 against the Ducks at Honda Center, and a 1-1 series to take into Game 3 Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings were up 2-0 after five minutes and 4-1 a minute into the third period. After the Ducks scored three unanswered goals in about 12 minutes against an unusually subpar Jimmy Howard, coach Mike Babcock cast the night as a great learning experience.

"You got the win and you stop playing," he said. "We talked about it on the bench, we should call a timeout. We were scared to death the timeout was going to make us more nervous. The crowd gets going, what do you do? We stopped skating, we stopped playing. Howie, he's is our guy, it's unbelievable how he's carried us all year. He had a couple go through him that normally don't go through him. Then it's like a feeding frenzy."

The Red Wings capitalized on three of them, in fact; the other two came from Johan Franzen, who heroically overcame taking a puck to a very tender area late in the second period. Franzen had scored to make it 3-0 on a power play at the start of that period, used intermission to feel a little better, and then came out and made it 4-1 after Saku Koivu had put Anaheim within two goals.

Franzen got hit late in the third period, and spent the intermission before overtime getting checked out for a concussion. He was cleared and was just on his way back out when Nyquist scored.

Justin Abdelkader and Damien Brunner provided a two-goal cushion before five minutes had passed in the game.

"I got a turnover, got around the first guy, and it was me and the defenseman," Abdelkader said. "I kind of used him as a screen and knew I had to get it up on Hiller there. I caught him off guard."

Brunner scored off a terrible pass from Selanne. Selanne later amended with a shot that Koivu turned into his goal.

After Franzen had made it 4-1, Ryan Getzlaf powered out from behind Detroit's net to score with a backhand, and Kyle Palmieri sent a shot over Howard's left shoulder with 7:29 to play. Minutes after he hit a goal post, Bobby Ryan made it 4-4 with 2:22 to go in regulation.

"You're mostly disappointed every time you lose," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And when you do come back to tie it, and lose it, is a little more disappointing. I was hoping it would get done before overtime because I knew they would gain their composure again, because the last 10 minutes, they lost it. They were fortunate starting on the power play, and that was it."

The Wings came into Game 2 determined to prove Game 1 an aberration, to show they hadn't regressed after coming into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak. They backed it up with a commanding early performance, then showed they're still vulnerable.

"We were at times as frazzles as we've been in a long time," Babcock said. "Guys want to win bad. It's a good life lesson for our crew."

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara reacts to a goal scored by Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron to tie the game during the third period in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer makes a save on a Boston Bruins shot in game six of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Boston 2-1.
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